Bunkbed for my son

I made these bunk beds back in 2004 for our son. They are made of poplar and wet sanded with Natural Danish oil using a 400 grit sandpaper. I had a tremendous amount of assistance from a family friend that has taught woodshop for 20+ years at local high schools. He was there with me every step until the sanding stage. he left that for me. The posts are 3 laminated pieces of cut & planed 1” x 3” glued and nailed together. The cross pieces are included in the “lamination” process. The rails are attached with two 6” long lag screws on each end. I came abck later and built the rail for the top bunk which fits in a dado groove cut down each post with a router. We learned very quickly not to straighten up to quick when tucking him in because those rails are quite the hard head knockers.

3/8” steel dowels were cut and extend at least 3” into the posts in both directions (Up & down). It is a tight almost press fit that sometimes requires the use of pliers to pull them out when the beds are separated.